London:
Anthropologists have unearthed a 100,000-year-old skeleton of a child in Israel who may have died because of a brain injury - the oldest evidence of brain damage in a modern human.
The 3D imaging results revealed that the child survived head trauma for several years, but suffered from permanent brain damage as a result.
Growth in teeth showed that the child was about 12-13 years old during the time of death.
The child's brain volume was more similar to that of a six- or seven-year-old.
"People cared for him/her for years which shows that it is the most ancient evidence of compassion and altruism," said Helene Coqueugniot from University of Bordeaux in France.
The skeleton was uncovered in a cave site known as Qafzeh in Galilee, Israel.
The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The 3D imaging results revealed that the child survived head trauma for several years, but suffered from permanent brain damage as a result.
Growth in teeth showed that the child was about 12-13 years old during the time of death.
The child's brain volume was more similar to that of a six- or seven-year-old.
"People cared for him/her for years which shows that it is the most ancient evidence of compassion and altruism," said Helene Coqueugniot from University of Bordeaux in France.
The skeleton was uncovered in a cave site known as Qafzeh in Galilee, Israel.
The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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